Tabulator mechanism for typewriting-machines



N. H. ANDERSON.

TABULATOR MECHANISM ,FOR TYPEWRITING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED JAN.23, 1917. RENEWED MAR. 21. 1919.

1,362,071" Patented Dec. 14, 192() W 'ifil'jil'iil" he IIIIIIII; 'I

law/111111 7 UN-ITED;STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NILS H. ANDERSON, or" narnenroar, CONNECTICUT,

ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO UNDERWOOD TYPEWRITER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

misunn'roa MECHANISM non TYPEWRITING-MACHINES.

Application filed January 23, 1917, Serial No. 143,990. Renewed March 21, 1919.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Nins H. AnonRsoN, a citizen of the United States residing at Bridgeport, in the county of l airfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Tabulator Mechanism for. Typewriting-Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

In some classes of typewriting machines when the tabulator key is depressed the feed rack is released from the feed and stop pawls, leaving the pa er.'carriage free to be drawn across the rame by the spring barrel, and the; ta'bulator frame is rocked so that the 'stops which it carries will be swung into the path of and be engaged by a part projecting from the paper, carriage for stopping the carriage at the desired. place. As the paper" carriage is comparatlvely heavy and. consequently has. considerable momentum, particularly when drawn a substantial distance by the spring barrel, there is a heavy shock and much noise incident to the'engagement of the stop on the carriage;

with the stop on the tabulator frame.

The object of this invention is to provide means which, are adapted to be attached to typewriting machines now in common use without materially altering the present construction, whereby. the movement of the paper carriage can be controlled and the shock and noise incident to 1ts stopping be eliminated. .For the purpose of illustrating'the nvention it is shown as a pglied to a typewriting machine of the nderwood make. Figure 1 of the' accompanying drawmgs shows a rear elevation of such a machine with a shock absorbing and controlling means which embodies this invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a plan showing t rear portion vof'the paper carriage and tabulator frame. Fig. 3 is a long1tudinal section on larger scale of the shock absorbing" and'noise eliminating "sup o rt for one en of the tabulator frame. 1g. 4 15 an enlarged cross section of a portion of the carriage frame and 'tabulator frame taken on the plane indicated by the dotted line 4-4. on Fig. 2.

In the machine shown the paper carriage l is drawn by the usual sprlng tension means across the;frame 3 in the direc- Specification of Letters Patent.

'- plate 7 at one end rubber bufl'er 15 ing the buffer.

Patented Dec. 14, 1920.

Serial No. 288,688.

tion indicated by the arrow on 1 with a I The adjustable along the stop rod and have fingers 9 that register with the graduations on the rack bar. The tahulator frame is pivotally mounted on the end of a screw 10 which is turned through the upper end of the stationary machine frame into a socket in'the lower end of the plate. At the o posite end the other tabulator frame plate? is pivotally mounted at its lower end on the end of a plunger 11 which is movably held in a sleeve 12 that is screwed through the upper end. of the stationary machine frame. end of this sleeve is a cup, tube or housing 13 which contains a plate or head 14 against which the end of the plunger abuts, and a with a central opening 16; The outer end of the cup is closed by a screw cap 17. The cup 13, head 14 and cap 17 form a casing inclosing and confin- The tabulator frame has a forwardly projecting arm 18 which is connected by a link 19 with the tabulator key lever 20 so that as the tabulator key lever is operated when the machine is in use the tabulator frame is rocked forward in-the manner common to this class of mechanisms, Extending downwardly from the rear of the paper carriage frame is a stop lug 21. and when the tabulator frame is swung forward and the paper carriage feeds this stop lug 21 on the carriage is engaged by On the outer Stop 15 is made of rubber, and rubber is substantially incompressible. This body of rubber completely fills the bore of the cup, as does the head 14: of the stem ll and, owing to the incompressibility of the rubber, there is no noticeable endwise movement of the stem 11 or of the rack 7 at the concussion of the carriage, because the rubber is supported on all sides against yielding. The small central perforation of the rubber plug 15, at the point 16, may permit a very slight yielding of the plug, enough to avoid giving the rubber plug the effect of a rigid hard plug or stop; but, although the plug may, because of its soft consistency, and because of the small central opening 16, yield a little, still this yielding is less in extent than a letterfeeding step of the carriage, and the recovery of the rubber plug to its normal Condition would obviously, because of packing 1 in the housing, be too sluggish and weak to enable it to throw the carriage back against the tension of the spring 2, which tension is always present.

It will thus be seen that a stop which 1s efficiently positive, for arresting or finally stopping the carriage without liability of excessive rebound, and which is noiseless, is conveniently and cheaply constructed by placing the rubber stop in a cup or tube, which it fills, and setting against it a rigid head which is provided upon a stem which extends through the other end of the tube, the cup being closed by a screw, the whole device forming a unit for ready attachment to a typewriting machine, to receive the impact of the carriage; the stem or shank being.

preferably inclosed in an extension of the cup which is threaded for attachment to the typewriting machine; the thread giving a range of adjustment, so as to increase the life of the device, since adjustment may be effected to compensate for the variation in the size or movement of the rubber stop due ranged on the carriage in position to engage with the tabulator frame when that .frame is swung forward. This brake consists of a spring arm, 22 which has one end secured to the rear of the carriage frame and that on its other end has a friction pad 23 preferably made of leather. Movable on the carriage frame between the frame and thespring brake arm is a wedge block 24: that can be fastened in any desired position by the screw 25. By adjusting this wedge block along the carriage frame the pad on the end of the brake arm may be set in such position that it will frictionally bear against the rack bar of the tabulator frame when that frame is swung forward, and thus control the momentum of the moving paper carriage and assist in relieving the shock and reducing the noise of the engagement of the carriage stop with the tabulator stop.

The invention claimed is,

1. In a writing machine the combination of a supporting frame, a sleeve screwed into the supporting frame, a cup on the outer end of said sleeve, a rubber buffer incased in said cup, a plunger movable in said sleeve and cushioned against said buffer, and a tabulator frame pivotally supported on the end of said plunger in such manner that the shock of blows imparted to the tabulator frame is transmitted through said pivotal plunger and absorbed by said rubber buffer.

2. The combination with a typewriter carriage, a supporting frame therefor and a tabulating mechanism comprising a stop on said carriage and a stop on said frame, of a noise-reducing connection between one of said stops and its supporting member, said connection comprising a buffer of material having the resiliently deformable but relatively non-compressible properties of soft rubber, and a snugly fitting casing of rigid material inclosing and confining said buffer, said casing comprising a pair of relatively movable buffer compression members connected respectively to said last-mentioned stop and its supporting member.

3. The combination with a typewriter carriage, a supporting frame therefor and a tabulating mechanism comprising a stop on said carriage and a stop on said frame, of a noise-reducing connection between one of said stops and its supporting member, said connection comprising a buffer of material having the resiliently deformable but rela tively non-compressible properties of soft rubber, said buffer having a relatively small cavity therein, anda snugly fitting casing of rigid material inclosing and confining said buffer, said casing comprising a pair of relatively movable buffer compression members connected respectively to said last-mentioned stop and its supporting member.

4. The combination with a typewriter carriage, of a noise-reducing final stop there for, comprising a rubber plug, a cup or tube which said rubber plug fills, a. head movable in said tube or housing, a shank upon said head and extending through an end of said housing for engagement with a part moved by the typewriter carriage, and means upon the other end of said tube for confining the plug compactly therein, said confining means in the form of a removable screw.

t ewriter 3&1 stop end of said housing for engagement with a part moved by the typewriter carriage, and means upon the other end of said tube for confining the plug compactly therein, said housing having a threaded portion, whereby it may be attached to a partoof the typewriting machine.

6. The combination with a typewriter carriage, of a noise-reducing final stop therefor, comprising. a rubber plug, a cup or tube which said rubber plug fills, a head movable in said tube or housing, a shank upon said head and extending through an end of said housing for engagement with a part moved by the typewriter carriage, means upon the other end of said tube for confining the plug compactly therein, a support into which said housing is adjustably theaded, and means to secure said housing where it is adjusted by its threads.

7. The combination with a typewriter carriage, of a noise-reducing finalstop therefor,

"comprising a rubber plug, a cup or tube which said rubber plug fills, a head movable in said tube or housing, a shank upon said head and extending through an end of said housing, and means upon the other end of said tube for confining the plug compactly therein, said shank having a pivotal portion, and the typewriter having a stopcarrying bar pivoted upon said'pivotal portion.

8. The combination with a typewriter carriage, of a noise-reducingfinal stop therefor, comprising a rubber plug, acup or tube which said rubber plug fills, a head movable in said tube or housing, a shank upon said head and extending through an end of said housing, means upon the other end of said tube for confining the plug compactly there in, said shank having a pivotal portion, and the typewriter having a stop-carrying bar pivoted upon said pivotal portion, a support into which said housing is adjustably threaded, and means to secure said housing where it is adjusted by its threads.

NILS H. ANDERSON. 

